Angelina Jolie may have landed a new franchise. The Oscar winner, 33, reportedly signed to play Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the crime-solving medical examiner in novelist Patricia Cornwell's bestselling series. Although there are 16 Scarpetta novels, this film won't focus on a specific Cornwell title, Variety reports. Cornwell's latest novel, simply titled Scarpetta, was published in December. In the novels, Kay Scarpetta, the beautiful, tough-as-nails forensic examiner, has a messy love life and a penchant for opera and Italian cooking. Before relocating to Massachusetts she was the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia. Jolie has played several hard-edged characters in films such as Wanted, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Gone in Sixty Seconds. If everything pans out, Scarpetta will be her second franchise, after the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider series. Jolie's rep tells PEOPLE a deal is not confirmed.